The present invention relates generally to Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), and more particularly to the secure transfer of soft SIMs.
Wireless communication standards, such as GSM and UMTS, typically require a mobile device to include a SIM on an integrated circuit card, referred to herein as a SIM card. The SIM card securely stores SIM subscription credentials, e.g., a service subscriber key corresponding to the user of the mobile device, and performs security sensitive tasks. A SIM card allows a user to change mobile devices by removing the SIM card from one mobile device and inserting it into another mobile device.
Currently, a communication network may use any one of several different over the air techniques or protocols to update a SIM card. For example, the communication network may include or interface with a central database that backs-up personal information for a plurality of SIM cards. The network device may transfer the stored back-up information corresponding to a particular user from the database to the user's SIM card upon request. While such over the air transfer techniques provide some personal information, they currently do not provide a complete or secure SIM subscription credential transfer. Thus, conventional over the air SIM information transfer techniques still require a SIM card in the target device to ensure the security and the integrity of the SIM.
While SIM cards may be appropriate for high end or complex mobile devices, such as mobile telephones, personal data assistants, etc., the costs associated with a SIM card may be prohibitively high for simple and/or low cost mobile devices. Further, while future standards may require the same security functions implemented by conventional SIM cards, such standards may not require an actual hardware implementation of a SIM (e.g., SIM card). Thus, there remains a need for alternative SIM solutions.